Maryland sues ICE, DHS amid Attorney General investigation into conditions at Baltimore facility
Maryland's Attorney General filed a federal lawsuit against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Tuesday in an effort to gain records about conditions in a Baltimore ICE facility.
The lawsuit comes as the Attorney General's Civil Rights Division and Federal Accountability Unit conduct an investigation to see if ICE has engaged in civil rights violations against detainees at the George H. Fallon Federal building.
The building houses five holding rooms, which several Maryland lawmakers have alleged are overcrowded and have "horrendous" conditions.
"The conditions inside the Baltimore holding cells have been dangerous, inhumane and unlawful — and ICE and DHS have done everything in their power to keep us from finding out just how bad they are," Attorney General Brown said. "The agencies have stonewalled our investigation while people in their custody are denied critical medical care and forced to sleep in cold cement cells and live in their own excrement."
WJZ has reached out to ICE and DHS for comment on this lawsuit.
AG's Lawsuit
The Attorney General said his office has been monitoring the conditions at the ICE facility since the summer of 2025, reviewing viral videos from inside cells, statements from detainees, and news reports of visits by congressmembers.
As a result, the AG's office said that the crowded conditions and "denial of basic human needs" had gotten worse, prompting the launch of an investigation in January.
Through its investigation, the AG's office is seeking to determine if ICE has engaged in civil rights violations, including holding detainees beyond legal limits, denying food, water and medical care, failing to provide sanitary conditions and denying access to legal counsel.
In May 2025, a class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of two women who were detained at the ICE building. It claimed that holding rooms were extremely cold and were crowded with 40 to 50 people in a 15-foot by 15-foot room.
On March 6, 2026, a federal court reviewing the case found that detainees were "routinely held there overnight and in excess of 12 hours," the attorney general's office said.
"The allegations surrounding the conditions at the George H. Fallon Federal Building in Baltimore are deeply disturbing and merit full investigative cooperation," Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said in a statement. "We cannot stand by as ICE and the federal government continue to lack transparency and dodge accountability for their cruel and unlawful immigration enforcement actions."
The AG's office also claimed that in another case, a detainee with Leukemia was denied cancer medication for two days until a friend was able to bring it to the facility. A whistleblower who worked in the building confirmed the account, according to the AG, and described blankets "covered in feces, lice, urine, and throw up."
According to the AG, the holding rooms at the Baltimore building are designed for short-term detainment of 12 hours or less. The holding rooms allegedly do not have showers or on-site medical staff available. Each holding room has a single open toilet.
"The Baltimore facility has held more than 120 individuals in a single day – over 200% of its stated maximum capacity of 56," The AG's Office said. "ICE's own Deputy Field Office Director warned in a February 2025 internal memo that the lack of medical staff 'could potentially lead to liability issues or, in the worst-case scenario, fatalities.'"
The Attorney General's office issued a subpoena to ICE and DHS in January, demanding records about the conditions in the holding rooms, the demographics of detainees and the legal basis for detentions.
ICE denied the subpoena on Feb. 25, according to the AG, and instead said the requests were too broad, burdensome and violated privacy protections. ICE later indicated it would need until April 6 to determine if it could share the requested information, according to the AG.
The lawsuit alleges that ICE's refusal to comply with the subpoena violates the Administrative Procedure Act and asks the court to order ICE and DHS to produce the records.
